General Hospital late star Anthony Geary, and late actors Rob Reiner and Phil Carey made TV history on All in the Family 

General Hospital fans were saddened to learn of the death of Anthony Geary. The news of his passing came on the heels of the shocking deaths of actor/director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Ringer Reiner. Veteran TV fans recall when Geary, Reiner, and the late Phil Carey, formerly Asa on One Life to Live, made TV history on an episode of All in the Family.

General Hospital, Roger and Out

The Norman Lear series All in the Family addressed many social issues through the lens of Archie Bunker (the late Carroll O'Connor), who often viewed life through an arguably bigoted, narrow, and uneducated lens. In the episode, which aired for the first time on February 9, 1971, "Judging Books by Covers," Archie believed son-in-law Mike's (Rob Reiner) friend Roger (played by Geary) was gay.

Archie took an instant, uncomfortable dislike to Roger, who came off as intellectual and eccentric. Roger's hair was a bit long. He wore a scarf and carried a handbag, which led Archie to believe that Roger was gay. Archie didn't mince words when it came to expressing his opinion about Roger.

"He's as queer as a four-dollar bill, and he knows it!" concluded Archie. Later, at Kelcy's bar, Archie caught up with his pal Steve, an ex-football player, played by Carey. In Archie's eyes, Steve was a real man's man, the complete opposite of Roger and his more delicate demeanor. Lear, as usual, set out to teach Archie a lesson.

Brawl in the Family

Archie let Steve know about his feelings toward Roger and his being gay. This prompted Steve to ask Archie if he could ever recall hearing Steve talk about girls and relationships. Archie scoffed at what Steve was hinting at; however, Steve maintained eye contact with Archie, as if to indicate he was being serious.

Then, Archie asked Steve to arm-wrestle. (Steve won). Archie, as he often was through Lear's brilliant storytelling, was left to ponder his beliefs, and hopefully, as the audience would, re-examine any prejudices.

Ironically, Gloria, played by Sally Struthers, who was Mike's wife and Roger's friend, would go on to become the third actress to play the role of Jennifer Smith, Luke's former fiancée.

Trending

In yet another General Hospital connection, Kelcy, who owned Kelcy's bar, was played by Bob Hastings, who played lawman Bert Ramsey on GH. (Later, Bert was exposed as criminal Mr. Big!)

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback